Internal-combustion engine



July 17, 192 8.

D. COLE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE- Original Filed Sept. 9. 1918Patented July 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JJOlll' COLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN A.DIENNER, 0F

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

INTERN AL-COMIBUSTION ENGINE. I

Application filed September 9, 1918, Serial No. 253,141. Renewed .Tune16, 1924.

invention relates to internal combustion engines. More particularly myinvention relates to a method of and means for the.

promotion of better combustion in internal combustion engines.

The increase in the cost of gasoline has been the cause of numerousattempts to utilize the 'heavier and cheaper fuel oils for motive power.I am aware that these attempts have resulted in a number of methods bywhich heavier oil fuel such as kerosene, which is the most economicaland conveniently obtained fuel for internal combustion engines, may beused in engines of conventional design. Practically all of these methodsinclude attachments for heating the kerosene before or at the time offeeding it to the engine, the oil being heated to change it into agaseous condition.

These methods have been generallyv unsatisfactory, due to the difficultyencountered in properly vaporizing the fuel and I have observed thatifthe vaporous fuel comes in contact with too great a heat, it will be disintegrated, its hydrogen being freed and its carbon being deposited onthe sides of the- -cylinder and on the piston head.

Attempts have heretofore been made to burn kerosene by heating the airto fairly high temperature prior to carburetion thereof. -The consequentexpansion of the air materially reduces the efliciency of the engine.

As well understood by those skilled in the art, kerosene-and the heavieroils do not evaporate readily thereby making vaporization verydiflicult.v The relative non-volatility of kerosene is the property thathas proven to be the greatest stumbling block in its development as anoil fuel for internal combustion engines. 7

My invention aims to provide for the use of the cruder and cheaper fueloils as a if the fuel is not finely atomized it will not havesufl'icient time for complete combustion and will settle on the walls ofthe cylinders and the piston head and there carbonize.

In accordance with the well known fact that the boiling point of aliquid falls with a decrease of pressure, I provide for feeding the fueloil into a relatively high vacuum, air being admitted only afterapproximately the maximum vacuum has been reached. I have observed thatupon feeding a fuel oil such as kerosene into a relatively high vacuum,it will be immediately vaporized, then upon admitting the necessaryamount of air an even mixture and quick burning charge will be therebysecured.

In order that those skilled in the art may be fully. acquainted with thenature and scope of my invention, I shall describe a specific embodimentof-the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings which forma part of the present specification and in which Figure 1 shows invertical cross section an illustrative embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the pump employed in connectionwith the embodiment shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a typical indicator diagram taken from an engine constructedin accordance with myinventi on, and r Figure 4 is a modificationwherein the stroke of the pump and the air inlet are independentlycontrolled.

The engine shown in vertical section in Figure 1 is provided with thecrankcase 1, in which the crank shaft 2 is mounted. Although there maybe a plurality of cylinders, only one cylinder, 3, is shown, thiscylinder having a piston 4 connected with the crank shaft 2 by means ofthe connecting rod 5. The cylinder 1 is cooled by means of the usualwater jacket 6 surrounding the top and sides thereof.

Figure 1 shows the position of the piston 4 when compression is takingplace, the valve in the fuel inlet passage .being inthe closed positionand a charge of fuel oilin readiness for the next suction stroke. The

the engine in the ordinary manner. The ex- ;ha-ust valve 7 controls thevalve port leading to the exhaust manifold 12, the inlet valve 6controlling the air inlet passage 13. The valve stems 14 and 15 of thevalves 6 and 7 respectively extend up through the upper wall of thecylinder 3 and are proable springs 18 and 19 are arranged about thevalve stems 14 and 15 respectively, be-

tween the flanges 16 and. 17provided on these stems and the head of thecylinder 3.

These springs are of suflicient strength to normally hold the valves 6and 7 upon their seats as shown in Figure 1, against the vacuum producedin the cylinder 3.

The upper ends of the valve operating rods 20 and 21, the lower ends ofwhich co-' operate with the cams 10 and 11, are pivotallv connected toone of the free ends of the rocking levers 22 and 23. The opposite endsof the rocking levers 22 and 23 are pivotally iconnected to the upperends of the valve stems 14 and 15, these rocking levers beingpivotedfwithin their length at 24 and 25 respectively. It will now beapparent that cooperation of the cams 10and 11 with the lower ends ofthe valve operating rods 20 and 21 will lift these rods upwardly,thereby moving the valves 6 and 7, through the rocking levers 22 and 23,downwardly from their seats against the tension of the springs 18 and19.

Fuel oil is supplied to the cylinder 3 of the engine from a reservoir 26by way of the pipe 26 and the fuel inlet passage 27. I provide a valve28 for controlling the flow of fuel oil through the inlet passage 27.The valve 28 is controlled by a valve rod 29, which co-operates with acam 30 mounted upon a suitable cam shaft, this cam being timed-to openthe valve 28 when a relatively reservoir 32 by means of a pump highvacuum has been created in the cylinder 3 during the suction stroke ofthe plston 4.

' The fuel tank 31 is connected to the reser voir 26 by means of a pipe38, the fuel oil be ing periodically supplied from the tank 31 i0 33. shereinbefore explained, during the running of the engine the cam shaft 8is rotated, the cam 10 mounted there'upon'co-operating with the valveoperating rod 20 at substantially the end of each suction stroke to openthe air intake valve 6, and thereby admits air in quantity and inproportion to support the combustion. Further rotation of the cam shaft8 causes the cam 10 to engage the stem 49 projecting inwardly from theplunger 37 of the pump 33, thereby moving the plunger 37 into thecylinder 39 of the pump against the tension of the spring 40. As the cam10 continues to rotate the plunger 37 will be released, allowing thespring 40 to move the plunger 37 outwardly. Thus the fuel oil is drawnfrom the tank 31 during the suctionthe compression stroke of the pump.As the supply of fuel oil maintained in the reservoir 26 is justsufficient for one charge, it

will be apparent that the amount of oil drawn into the cylinder 3 duringone suction stroke of the piston 4 is controlled by the stroke of thepump 33.

The air inlet passage13 which admits air to the cylinder'3 when theintake valve 6 is "opened, is suitably controlled as by a butterflyvalve 43, which may be termed a throttle.

The form of my invention shown in Figure 1 is particularly adapted formarine purposes, in that the butterfly valve 43, which controls thequantity of 'air drawn into the cylinder 3 during the suction stroke ofthe piston 4 is controlled by a lever 44; this lever at the same timecontrolling the stroke of the pump 33 and consequently controllingthequantity of oil supplied from the tank 31 to the reser-. voir 26. Thelever 44 controls the stroke of the'pump 33 through the links 45whichare operably connected with ashaft 35; movement of the lever 44rotating the shaft 35. A cam 34 is mounted upon the shaft '35 and isadapted to co-operate upon movement of the lever 44 with the flange 36carried by the plunger 37 of the pump 33, to eitherincrease or decreasethe outward movement of the plunger 37 accordingly as to whether thethrottle 43 is opened or closed. A

It will now be apparent ing the'air inlet opening 13 by means of thelever 44 the amount of oil delivered to the reservoir 26 will becorrespondingly in- 1 creased, thereby maintaining a substantiallyconstant ratio between the oil and the air. This is desirable in amarine engine as the requirements of such an engine do not to any greatextent; 7 4

In Figure 3]? have shown a typical indicator diagram ,takenvfrom anengine of my improved construction. As well understood by those skilledin the art, this diagram has ordinates which are proportional varyvalves41 and 42 are provided in the 1 that upon increas- I to thepressures acting upon the enginezpiston at each point during its workingand return stroke and abscissa proportional to the corresponding spacemoved through by the piston 40f the engine. The indicated horsepower isproportional to the positive area of the diagram thus obtained.

I will now describe with the aid ofthe i 1 indicator diagram shown inFigure 3, which the heat. From this point it wil I consider to beuniquein so far as indicator diagrams taken from internal combustionengines are concerned, the operation of the particular embodiment of myinvention shown in Figure 1.

Assuming the piston 4 to be in its uppermost position upon starting theengine the, downward movement of the piston will trace the suction curveA upon the indicator card. The curve thus traced, which is obviouslyconsiderably lower than the suction curve taken from the usual internalcombustion engine and may run as low as 8 or 10 pounds of suction showsthat the piston 4 started from its uppermost position with a pressure ofsubstantially 15 lbs. to the square inch acting thereupon, from wherethe suction curve A curve-s downwardly until the maximum vacuum withinthe cylinder 3 is reached at approximately the point B. The cam 30 istimed to engage the valve rod 29 at some point prior to the opening ofthe air valve 6, thereby opening the valve 28 and allowing the charge offuel oil which was previously stored in the reservoir 32 by the pump 33,to be drawn into the relatively great vacuum existing in the cylinder 3.Upon releasing the charge of fuel oil into this relatively great vacuumthe fuel will be very thoroughly atomized due tothe fact that theboiling point of a liquid falls with a decrease of pressure. Any of theliquid fuel coming in contact with the hot walls at once vaporizes dueto the low ressure and l be seen that the suction curve A runs upwardlydue to opening of the valve 6 by the cam 9, which is timed to engagethe-valve operating rod 20, thereby moving the air inlet valve 6downwardly from its seat through the rocking lever 23.' The necessaryamount of air is then drawn into the cylinder 3 thru the air inletpassage 13, thereby forming an even mixture and quick burning charge,the suction curve-A rising substantially vertically upwardly from thispoint to approximately 15 lbs. to the square inch again, the pressurecurve in the cylinder 3 then following in substantially a straight linealthough the pressure will decrease to a very slight extent until theend of the suction stroke is reached.

Compression then takes place above the piston 4 during its upwardmovement, the pressure within the cylinder 3 during this upward movementof the piston being shown approximately by the compression curve D ofFigure 3. Upon completing the compression stroke the mixture within thecylinder 3 is ignited, the pressure increasing slightly and thendecreasing during the expansion curve E of Figure 3. Upon completing theexpansion or working stroke the cam 8 is timed to open the exhaust valve7, the pressure within the cylinder 3 during the exhaust prior to thebeginning of the compression stroke of the engine.

The cam 34 is so placed as toblock the outward movement of the flange 36which flange is secured to the movable plunger 37. Thus by varying theprojection of the cam the piston is permitted to travel outward to agreater or less degree as desired, thereby varying the effective strokeof the pump.

The spring 40 forces the plunger 37 outward, drawing a charge of liquidfuel into the cylinder 39 and engagement of the cam 10 with the stem 49forces the plunger in ward, discharging the measured quantity ofliquidfuel into the cup 26.

.Altho the particular embodiment of my invention described in connectionwith Figure 1 is especially adapted for marine purposes, wherein asubstantially constant ratio between the oil and the air is desirablefor a given engine speed, it is to be understood that my invention isequally applicable to engines wherein the requirements thereon vary asin the. case of automobile engines and the like. In this case the strokeof the pump 33 and the air inlet opening 13 may be controlledindependently as shown in Figure 4. For this purpose I have provided alever 47 for controlling the butterfly valve 43 independently of thepump 33, the position of the butterfly valve 43 determining the quantityof air drawn into the cylinder 3 duringthe suction stroke of the piston4. An independent lever 48 is then provided for controlling the strokeof the pump 33 through the links 45 and cam 34. Thus when a rich mixtureis desired, the stroke of the pump 33 is increased by means of the lever48, the air inlet opening being decreased by means of the lever 47. Whena leaner mixture is desired, the air inlet opening may be increased bymeans of the lever 47 and the stroke of the pump may be decreased bymeans of the lever 48, it being understood, of course, that the strokeof the pump 33 determines the quantity of fuel oil that is periodicallystored in the reservoir 32, this entire quantity being drawn into thecylinder of the engine during the suction stroke thereof.

The fuel injector which I have shown is ,really no more than a fuelmeasuring device and is not a carburetor. While I have shown the fuel asadmitted in a solid stream it is obvious that an air bleed might beprovided for speeding the flow of the fuel or for breaking it up foreasier vaporization as is shown in my co-pending application, Se-

any air which is admitted with the fuel is insuflicient to supportcombustion. It is desirable .to admit the fuel into as high a vacuum aspossible and any air which is ad- I mitted. with the fuel tends to bleedor de stroy the vacuum.

Thecontrol devices which I have shown for varying the amount of fuelinjected per stroke may be varied. I have found that the amount of fuelmay be controlled at each stroke by the amount of air bleeding of thefuel oil or by restricting-the admission of air to the fuel in the masuring chamber as is shown in my co-pend ing application, Serial Number253,140 of even date, For the broader aspects of my invention anysuitable means for controlling the'quantity of fuel introduced may beemployed.

While I have described my invention in connection with the details of aparticular embodiment, it is to be understood that this embodiment ismerely illustrative and I do not intend thereby to limit the inventionto such details, as I am" aware and contemplate that modifications andchanges may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention'which is set out in the appended claims.

I claim:

V1. The method of promoting combustion in an internal combustionen'ginewhich con-' sists in periodically supplying fuel from a source ofsupply to a reservoir of capacity suitable for one charge, creating arelatively high vacuum in the cylinder of the engine and then admittingthe fuel substantially unmixed with air from said reservoir into saidrelatively high vacuum and admitting air at the end of the suctionstroke only.

2. The method of promoting combustion in an internal combustion enginewhich consistsin creating a relatively high vacuum the cylinder of theengine, supplying a fixed charge of fuel and then admitting the fuel ina fixed charge into said cylinder only after a delayed intervalsuflicient to establish a relatively high vacuum therein, admitting airinto the vacuum at the end of the suction inder.

stroke only, and comp'ressin I andfiring the I resulting mixture in saidcy inder.

3. In an internal combustion eng ne, a

cylinder, a piston operating in said cylinder,

a crank shaft with which said piston is connected, inlet and exhaustvalves for said cylinder, a fuel inlet passage for admitting fuel in afixed charge to said cylinder substantially devoid of air only after arelatively high partial vacuum has been created in the cylinder, meansfor opening said air inlet valve only subsequent to the admission offuel into said relatively high vacuum, means for controllingthe-quantity of air admitted through said inlet valve and means forcontrolling the quantity of fuel forming said fixed charge. r

4. In combination, an internal combustion engine, an air inlet valve forsaid engine, a fuel reservoir suitable for one charge of liquid fuel, afuel inlet. valvev for admitting liquid fuel from said rservoir to thecylinder of said engine subsequently to creating arelatively high vacuumin said cylinder,

means for replenishing said reservoir contmuously, and means foradmitting airthrough said inlet valve only after the. admission of fuelin liquid form into saidirelatively high vacuum.

I 5. In an internal combustion engine, a combustion cylinder, apiston"therein, mechanically operated admission and exhaust valves'forsaid'cylinder, means for supply- 7, I

ing liquid fuel to the cylinder, a liquid fuel .valve, a main air valvefor controlling the admission of air from atmosphere into' saidcylinder, the timing of said valves being such that when the fuel valveis opened a relatively high vacuum in the cylinder is effective to drawthe-liquid fuel into the cylinder and vaporize the same, the air valvebeing timed'to open at the end of the suction 'stroke only for admittingthe required complement of air, and a throttle for controlling thevolume of mixture in said cyl- 1 non COLE.

